"Lawrence of Arabia" star Peter O'Toole dies aged 81 in London

O'Toole's agent Steve Kenis confirmed the Lawrence Of Arabia star's death, saying he died on Saturday at the Wellington hospital in London after a long illness.

Often called the Hamlet of his generation, the legendary actor shot to stardom 50 years ago in his role as T.E. Lawrence in the brilliant film "Lawrence of Arabia," which won seven Oscars including Best Picture.

Peter left two daughters behind - Kate and Patricia - and a son, Lorcan Patrick O'Toole.

According to British tabloid the Daily Mail Online, in a statement released earlier, Kate O’Toole said: 'His family are very appreciative and completely overwhelmed by the outpouring of real love and affection being expressed towards him, and to us, during this unhappy time. Thank you all, from the bottom of our hearts. 'In due course there will be a memorial filled with song and good cheer, as he would have wished. We will be happy to speak to you all then but in the meantime if you could give Peter O’Toole the respect he deserves and allow us to grieve privately we’d appreciate it. 'Thank you all again for your beautiful tributes – keep them coming.

Peter Seamus O’Toole was born on August 2, 1932 in Connemara, Ireland in County Galway. After a stint in the Royal Navy, he attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and debuted on television in 1954 before breaking out inLawrence of Arabia, earning the first of eight career Oscar nods. After that he was nominated 7 more times, including for Becket, The Lion in Winter, Goodbye Mr. Chips, The Ruling Class, The Stunt Man, and My Favorite Year, according to Deadline.com.

Deadline.com added that Peter was last nominated for an Oscar in 2007 for the movie Venus. O’Toole also provided the voice of Anton Ego (the hard-nosed food reviewer) in Pixar’s Ratatouille. He was the most nominated actor never to receive an Oscar, but the Academy remedied that by presenting him with an honorary Oscar in 2003.